As leaders we sometimes casually quip, â€œChurch planting is hard!â€ But the sacrifice and sifting of a church planting family is real.Â Kelly Adkins and her husband, Mike, planted Grace in Orlando almost 9 years ago. Â Kelly gets to the heart of the matter as she describes the hurt, rejection, loneliness, loss and pain of church planting.Â But she reminds us all of the One Who really suffered and the â€˜ridiculous graceâ€™ that drives us to answer the call.Â Read Kelly’s story here.

Josh and Lisa Husmann had a clear call to relocate and plant a church in Indiana, and they were excited about this new adventure.Â And to add to the excitement, a month after they arrived, Lisa found out she was pregnant with their second child, Jaxton! But shortly after, the unthinkable happened during a routine doctor visit.Â Read more ofJosh’s story here. See Jaxton’s video here.Â Continue the conversation this April at Exponential 2012.

Years ago, when Steve Pike was called to plant a church, he recalls, “The penultimate â€œsiftedâ€ moment came about six months after the public launch. Only six people showed up for our weekly worship service and four of them were my family and I.” Â God used that experience to ultimately grow Steve’s trust in Him; and grow the church. Read more of Steve’s story here.Â Continue the conversation this April at Exponential 2012.

While leading a growing church, Dave Page and his family experienced the tragic loss of their daughter.Â At a time when he needed the loyalty of his staff, betrayal was the last thing on his mind.Â His experience will encourage you and give you practical preventative steps to help you in leadership.Â Read more of Dave’s Sifted Story.Â

When Justin Davis and his wife, Trisha, started their church, Justin knew accountability would be important. So he partnered with another guy in their group to hold him accountable.Â Unfortunately, Justin found there were ways around accountability. What he really needed was transparency. Read more of Justin’s story here.

“Iâ€™ve never wanted to be normal much. Normal seems boring. But after being sick and being â€˜abnormalâ€™ for reasons out of my control there is a strange drive for normalcy. . .I crave it. I want it. Even if I donâ€™t know what exactly it is, I desire it. Maybe sick folk talk about this, but I think people feel a compulsion to correct them: ‘Normal is boring! Donâ€™t be normal! What is normal?!’ Whether it makes logical sense or not there is a strong compulsion for normalcy: to be able to have â€˜normalâ€™ sex, to be in control of what my body looks like, to choose who gets to see me naked, to have a schedule filled with things I want them to be filled with, and to have a regular pooping schedule! Those are just a few of the â€˜normalâ€™ things I crave.” More of Ryan Woods’ sifted story.

“I remember walking along a limestone bluff perhaps two hundred feet above the muddy and treacherous river, as frightened as Iâ€™ve ever felt. Hereâ€™s something you canâ€™t dream your way out of, I told myself. Hereâ€™s something you canâ€™t think your way out of, buy your way out of, or work your way out of. . . This is, I thought to myself, something you can only trust your way out of.”Â Bob Buford shares his sifted story, the tragic story of loss.Â But with an eternal perspective, it is one filled with unthinkable joy and grace.Â Read more here.

We’ve all heard the truth, “The greater the opposition, the greater opportunity for Godâ€™s glory! “Â When Damian and Zarat Boyd launched Vertical Church in an urban area of Atlanta, they experienced serious opposition on every side.Â They were establishing a new church in a very difficult and dark place.Â Why would they not wrestle with the enemy? Â Sifted meets Spiritual Warfare in Damian’s story of Sifted here.

Ty Neal still can hardly believe the turn of events that brought him to where he is today. A pastor made a decision that disqualified him from leading the church and Ty’s world changed forever. In just a short year of being sifted, stretched and grown for God’s glory, he has learned a lot of lessons!Â Â Read more of Ty’s story here.

“Too many pastors have spent too long faking out the entire world (including themselves), attempting to convince everyone that theyâ€™re okay.”Â It took several years for Matt Keller to unlearn the untruths and false realities drilled into him by a particular style of church leadership.Â Pastor Matt Kellerâ€™s desire is that something in his sifted story will inspire you to take an honest look at yourself and get help if necessary. Read more here.